Mr Kenneth Nduka, President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), on Monday called for an effective regulatory framework in the real estate industry to serve as a benchmark for coordinating activities in the sector.

Nduka, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said the sector had been operating without a laid down law to regulate operators and activities therein.

According to him, the absence of a functional law, due to lack of effective National Building Code (NBC) is responsible for the violation of the ethics, codes and conducts of the profession by operators.

NAN reports that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, in June, 2018, announced the review of the code by the Federal Executive Council.

Nduka said that after the review was announced, no action had been taken to effect the implementation of the reviewed code.

The NIOB chief, therefore, urged the Federal Government to propose an Executive Bill to the National Assembly for an enabling legislation, to facilitate the implementation of the reviewed NBC.

“Without an enabling law to back the code, the NBC is like a toothless bulldog that will make no impact.

“Buildings still collapse in Nigeria because there is no law that stipulates the punishments applicable to professional or developer who executed construction of the collapsed building.

“It is as a result of ineffective regulatory framework that makes it possible for anyone to commit punishable offence in the industry and go free,” he said.

According to him, the reviewed code will not make remarkable impact until an enabling law is enacted to back it up.

He said the law was necessary to facilitate enforcement of the code for its effects to be felt.

Nduka noted that the passage of the bill would guarantee orderly and effective building environment.

“Availability of an effective regulatory framework through enforcement of the NBC will help to prevent usage of substandard building materials and substandard workforce, which contribute over 50 per cent cause of building collapse,” he said.

The NIOB boss noted that the ineffectiveness of the NBC was the major cause of all the challenges in the industry, adding that enforcement of the codes would put an end to the menace in the building and construction industry.

Nduka, therefore, urged stakeholders in the industry to persist in efforts to ensure there was an enabling law for the NBC to make it enforceable so that sanity would be restored in the industry. (NAN)